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Compensation & Benefits

Survey: Financial stress reshaping work and retention

04/06/2026
Nearly half of employees say they have changed jobs due to financial stress, while close to seven in 10 have considered doing so or reducing their hours. This positions financial well-being as a direct driver of turnover, not just an employee experience issue.

RTO mandates make child care benefits essential

04/06/2026
If your organization is serious about a return-to-work mandate, it’s time to consider providing enhanced child care benefits. Why? You may lose a significant portion of your workforce, especially women, if you remove the flexibility of remote work and replace it with a strict in-the-office requirement.

Health costs force tough tradeoffs

03/30/2026
Rising health-care costs are doing more than stretching paychecks—they’re reshaping how employees spend, save and make decisions about their futures.

Another paid-leave proposal focuses on employer grants

03/30/2026
2026 may yet become the year Washington approves some form of paid leave, if the slew of recently introduced legislative proposals is any indication. This week, we address proposed legislation that relies on grants to employers for implementing paid leave.

Should you offer early access to worker pay?

03/30/2026
Earned wage access benefits allow workers to receive the pay they have earned before their regular payday. These offer stressed workers an alternative to credit card charges and payday lending with its sky-high interest rates. And employers are increasingly offering earned wage benefits for their workers to help them manage their financial lives without paying interest or racking up late fees for their household bills.

New joint-employer rule imminent

03/30/2026
The revised rule will impact when employers can be held liable for violations of wage-and-hour rules that franchisees or subcontractors make—that is, when they’re held responsible as a joint employer. In addition, the proposed rules may apply to the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Bipartisan bill balances state/federal paid leave

03/23/2026
One of the most frustrating HR problems for employers operating across state lines is managing different state and city paid-leave laws in the absence of at least a federal minimum standard. Now, Congress is considering enacting legislation to help.

More small employers choose 401(k) benefits

03/23/2026
For small employers, adding a plan may help with a persistent retention problem. Workers with a retirement plan at work—especially one where the employer offers a matching contribution—are less likely to jump ship to access a retirement plan through a new employer.

Paid-leave mandates reach record number of workers

03/23/2026
Approximately 46 million workers can now take time off for medical care, having or adding a child to their family, and a dizzying array of other reasons, thanks to state and local paid-leave laws enacted over the past two decades.

Spreading raises across the board can backfire with your best employees

03/16/2026
Employers are shifting their deployment of increases away from merit-based increases targeting top performers with bigger raises than less stellar performers and towards equal percentage increases for all employees. That’s something referred to as “peanut butter increases”—that is, spreading that 3.5% increase evenly across the board, peanut butter sandwich-style.